Discussion 6:

What are the ways that the "self-concept" changes in middle childhood, and what is the role of "social
comparison" in these changes? Reflect upon your own middle childhood and describe the ways your own
self-concept changed and what factors pushed those changes.
Self-concept “changes during middle childhood from the external to the internal and from the physical to
the psychological,” (Jensen et al., 2019, LO 7.13). When we are young, we use facts and physical
characteristics to describe ourselves, but once we reach middle childhood, we tend to include more
internal, psychological, personality-related traits, and mention characteristics that describe who we are not
or what we dislike. During this middle childhood phase, children are learning about themselves and others
and what makes them unique, or average. This is also the time when kids are figuring out their place in
society, with friends, and with family. Because of these stressors to figure out who they are, they often
follow certain tasks like, “Developing a relatively stable and comprehensive understanding of the self,
refining one's understanding of how the social world works, developing standards and expectations for
one's own behavior, and developing strategies for controlling or managing one's behavior,” (Markus and
Nurius, 1984). Another large role in the development of self-concept is social comparison-- how one
views themselves and their capabilities compared to others around them. “As children develop a more
complex picture of who they are and what they are capable of, they start to compare themselves to other
people,” (Morelli, n.d.). which is why we might hear students say they are better than or don’t do as well
as most kids with a certain subject, because they can compare themselves to their peers and their
achievements. “Children learn how to arrange sticks accurately from shortest to tallest in middle
childhood, and they also learn to rank themselves more accurately in abilities relative to other children,”
(Jensen et al., 2019, LO 7.13). For me personally, I think the biggest two changes in my self-concept were
academically and with sports. When I was young, I did not really have an idea of where I was
academically compared to my classmates. I did not really think much about grades, or the classes I was
taking-- I just did my work at my level. But once I realized that there were others around me doing better
or worse than I was in certain subjects-- math is one example and writing is another-- I began to define
myself around those subjects. I was not very good at math compared to my friends, but I was better at
writing than most kids my age. Since I made this realization during my middle childhood years, I
continued to believe those same things that I told myself up into high school-- until I realized that the
academics that once defined me no longer were the same. Sports are another way that I used social
comparison to alter my self-concept. I really liked to play volleyball, so I joined a YMCA team in the
third grade (and ended up playing club, indoor, and sand volleyball through my senior year). Once I
began middle school and we had to try out for the school team, I compared myself to my friends and
classmates who were also trying out based on our skill levels. From then on, I was able to personally rank
my skill level based on how well (or not well) other kids my age were doing.
References:
Arnett, J. J., & Jensen, L. A. (2019). Human development: a cultural approach (Third ed.). N.p.:
Pearson Education Inc.

Identity and self-esteem. Identity and Self-Esteem - Child Development Theory: Middle
Childhood (8-11). (n.d.). https://www.gracepointwellness.org/1272-child-development-
theory-middle-childhood-8-11/article/37688-identity-and-self-esteem.

National Research Council (US) Panel to Review the Status of Basic Research on School-Age
Children. (1984, January 1). Self-understanding and self-regulation in middle childhood.
Development During Middle Childhood: The Years from Six to Twelve.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK216782/.